Species Traitor: A Science Fiction Dystopian Novel by Kate Mary (books to read to get smarter txt) 📕

idea, and even my fuzzy brain agreed. But with the way my body was throbbing, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it up the stairs and across the walkways to Ione and Rye’s place, and going home was out of the question. At least until the mob outside the wall had settled down. Which meant I did nothing to discourage Finn when he knelt at my side and scooped me into his muscular arms.

He acted as if I weighed nothing at all as he lifted me, and I clung to him when my head spun, finding my arms around his neck and my head pressed against his firm chest. The throb that had started at my temples seemed to grow more intense with each step he took, and I squeezed my eyes shut when nausea rolled through me. I was afraid I was going to be sick, and I said a silent prayer I was able to hold off at least until we made it to Ione’s. I’d never be able to look Finn in the eye if I puked all over him.

Chapter Sixteen

My eyes stayed closed the entire time, but I could feel us climbing, could hear the walkway creak beneath us and Ione’s heavy breathing behind me.

She was silent until we stopped. “No. Take her to my place.”

“This is closer,” Finn said.

A door swung open with a groan, and I cracked one eye to find a familiar room looming in front of me, only it wasn’t the house Ione shared with her husband. It was Finn’s.

He stepped inside but didn’t stop in the living room. We passed a small table and compact kitchen, then moved deeper. I hadn’t paid much attention to the house last time I was here, but other than the furniture, it was the same as Ione’s—complete with a Veilorian rock on the end table—and when Finn stopped in front of a doorway, I knew where he was taking me even though it was too dark to see anything. He used his elbow to flip the switch up, and artificial light filled the room, revealing a bed. I must have lucked out and arrived during the few hours of electricity they were allowed.

My heart thumped as he eased me onto the lumpy surface. “Is this your room?”

His citrine eyes focused on me when he said, “It is.”

He loomed over me when he straightened, impossibly large and imposing. Ione stood in the doorway gnawing on her lip, her expression twisted with concern, as well as something else. Curiosity.

“How’s your head?” Finn asked. “Do you need ice?”

My hand went first to my cheek, then to the back of my skull. When my fingers probed the lump, I winced.

“Ice would be nice.” I let out an involuntary giggle at the rhyme.

Finn’s frown deepened. “She seems altered.”

“She’s not altered,” Ione said with a huff. “She’s nervous. Can you blame her? She’s lying in the bed of a guy who’s been more than a little hostile toward her in the past.”

Finn’s gaze moved to my cousin, then to me. I held my breath, waiting for him to say something, to explain why he brought me here.

All he said before turning away was, “I’ll get ice.”

Ione stepped aside, giving him room to leave, then hurried to the bed. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I put my hand on my forehead.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she asked. “I told you not to come. I thought I made myself clear.”

“I was thinking about how this new law meant I wasn’t going to get to talk to you again, and then I saw that kid getting beaten. I knew if I didn’t step in, he would be killed. I also knew no one else was going to help.”

“And did you forget you’re not a superhero? I mean, did you really think you’d be able to take on an entire mob by yourself?”

“No,” I mumbled, “But I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing.”

Ione blew out an aggravated breath. “You should have gone to Dean.”

“I didn’t have time to think it through.”

“Obviously.”

Footsteps entered the room, and I opened my eyes when Ione shifted. It was the first chance I’d had to see her growing figure. Not even three weeks had passed since the last time I saw her, but already her stomach was impossible to hide. She was bigger than I would have expected her to be this early, and I wondered if it was because the baby was half-Veilorian.

Finn stood behind my cousin, a ratty towel, lumpy with ice, in his hand. “This should help.”

When he held it out, Ione took it.

“Thank you,” I mumbled, then winced when she pressed it to my cheek. “That hurts.”

“It’s no surprise. Hopefully, your eye doesn’t swell shut.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “What am I going to tell my mom?”

“Not the truth,” Ione said. “Tell her you fell.”

“Isn’t that what people say when they’re lying?”

My cousin gave me a pointed look. “You know your mom. She’s not going to ask. She’d rather believe the lie than dig deeper and learn a truth that makes her uncomfortable. It’s the same reason my parents never questioned why I was staying out all night or who I was with.”

She was right.

The throbbing in my skull made it difficult to keep my eyes open, so I shut them and leaned my head back. I took deep breaths, sucking air in through my nose and blowing it out through my mouth in hopes of staving off the nausea. It seemed to work, and the uneasiness in my stomach slowly lessened. But as a result, I became intensely aware of the smells surrounding me. Like the outdoors after a rare rain shower or the scent of freshly dug dirt that always reminded me of playing with Ione in the park when we were young. There was something else, too. A masculine scent I’d smelled before. But where?

It took a moment to remember. Finn. This